Late symptoms after cholecystectomy

Late symptoms after cholecystectomy

In up to 15% of patients, cholecystectomy fails to relieve the symptoms for which the operation was performed. Such patients may be considered to have a ‘postcholecystectomy’ syndrome. In most such cases, this is merely a continuation of earlier symptoms. A detailed history with full investigation should be undertaken to confirm the diagnosis and exclude the presence of a stone in the bile duct, a stone in the cystic duct stump or operative damage to the biliary tree. This is best performed by MRCP or ERCP , the latter having the advantage that a stone in the CBD can be removed.